As wireless communications techniques develop and advance, so do the devices and applications which use them. One such example is the development of wireless internet access, or Wi-Fi, which allows a device to connect and use internet capabilities without traditional hardwire lines. By using a wireless connection, a user can move about with a device and maintain access to Internet services, provided that there is Wi-Fi coverage wherever the user moves to.
Traditionally, wireless coverage is provided by a base station, or access point, where the base station has a limited span of area which its signals can cover. In order to distance larger areas, multiple base stations are strategically placed in locations to more efficiently provide areas of viable signal coverage, while reducing overlap in coverage between the base stations. As a device moves out of one base station coverage area to another base station coverage area, the base station to which the device is connected may change.
To a user surfing the Internet on a connected device, the device switching from base station to base station has minor effects. However, when a user begins to use more sophisticated applications, such as Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), the overhead of a device disconnecting from one base station and reconnecting to another can result in more significant issues. For example, in the case of VoIP, switching from base station to base station can result in a disjointed call connection. Thus, as wireless devices, and the applications they run, become more sophisticated, continuity of data transfer becomes an increasingly important element to a successful user experience.